Days Of Our Lives

Have you seen colors like these!!

No not in paintings.

In real life.I stepped out of our front door one day in October and saw...no no, witnessed this.

The light was just right to highlight the coppery gold color of fall.

The air was heavy with the smell of rain and wind was on pause.

The sun was playing peek-a-boo with falling leaves.

I remembered a sight like this in Nagpur. My friends and I stopped our game of pitthoo to enjoy the sight of golden leaves floating down through speckled sunshine to fall on us.

This year 'patjarh' came suddenly. Now the branches are all bare and brown. I am glad I snapped a few pictures for memory.

This is called 'The Fire bush'. We planted it 5-6 years back. It lives up to its name.

Here are some more planted a year later. They put up a stunning show.

Here is the Japanese maple, planted by Suraj and Ravi, to replace the cranberry bush that died in the fire. Note Sachi's Escalade; he is leaving to go get his coffee from Starbucks (his daily evening fix)

I walked over to the road to take this picture and pick up the letters in the mailbox. There were many cards wishing Sachi happy birthday and good luck on his retirement. Among them Nandini and Swaroop babu's birthday card to Sachi. We planned a grand party for him on 19th. He thought it was to be a small gathering. His surprise started two days early when Vivek suddenly showed up. Our quiet evening brightened up in rainbow colors with his coming.

We stayed up late night getting the house ready. The boys put up some old pictures of Sachi in the study room. I made a slide show of about 120 pictures to be played in a continuous loop on the big screen during the party.

This is Sachi leaving for work on the last day. He had no idea we were planning so many things behind his back.

When he saw the grand decor and the amount of food laid out he started getting suspicious. This is the dessert table sparkling with the rajasthani mirror work (tablecloth). Good friends and families from Sachi's work were some of the first guests.

Next came our dear friends from the Indian community in Lincoln. Here Ravi is playing host to Poonam auntie. In the foreground are the appetizers, served on the table cloth that papaji and I bargained with a bagrhani in Connaught Place to get it. The general theme of the party was 'Gypsy Mela'. We had a tent in the backyard with colorful cloth draping the sides, old metal filigree lamps hanging from above and peacock feathers making up the centerpiece. I was so busy with million things that I forgot to take pictures. Of course the best part of the party were the friends and family.

The group from Omaha brought a lot of 'oomph' to the celebration. They are a happy, lively crowd and we are always glad to be with them.

These are Sachi's co-workers and their families. The pretty one in purple is Janelle. She is the one who gave us the idea to start this blog. I know you have been wanting to meet her.

Tom Osborne is our next door neighbor. He is the most revered football coach in the nation. After retirement he served one term as a congressman and now is the Athletic director at the university. As he was leaving the boys quickly posed with him for a memorable picture.

This is the main room where we planned some entertainment. A friend of Sachi's played a few songs on the trumpet. Isha Khanna, a little girl whom we have known since before she was born, charmed everyone with her Indian dance. She pulled her Sachi uncle onto the floor and the two of them performed a duet, with all of us thumping the beat with our hands.

Then Jyoti and Jeff thanked everyone for coming and shared their feelings about Baba on this very special occasion. Jyoti had obsessed for days over what to say and put her heart into her words. Jeff seemingly just stood by her to give her company, then changed his mind and gave a speech that trumped Jyoti's well thought out lines. Baba went up and stood by them, too choked to say anything. Then Suraj, Ravi, Vivek and I joined them. We formed a solid line around him while the boys took turn saying what they normally would only keep in their hearts.

Vivek read Naren's message which I saved for this blog.

"When my grandfather, Dr. Ghanshyam Mahapatra, passed away, I remembered with deep regret, "there goes my chance to learn from a real doctor, a man known for his kind demeanor, strict principles, and compassionate touch." I was so wrong! He has left a piece of himself in each of his children. And through my Bodobaba, he has touched me time and again. In my numerous visits to NE, I soaked up the wisdom that flowed so willingly forth, grooming me to become a healer of tomorrow. He taught me the ways of selflessness in mind, heart, and practice. And his humility is awe-inspiring. One of my favorite quotes from Bododa is the following, "Don't thank me for treating you. After all, I am being paid for it." But he has never simply treated the ailment. I remember shadowing him over a decade ago, before my journey in medicine ever began. He would greet each of his patients with such genuine pleasure that their apprehensions were right away set to flight. He didn't just shake their hand; many a time, he would embrace them. And they would spend the next few minutes discussing sports,politics, food, family vacations, etc. What did any of this have to do with this patient's impending angioplasty? It was evident that his patients had become far more than the sum of their diseased parts.Here was a doctor, who was beginning his work by first addressing the person behind the problem. I was and will forever remain inspired by this great man whom I admire so deeply. I only regret to see that the world of cardiology will experience less and less of him. I wish you all the best as you start a new page in your chapter of tomorrow....Love Naren"

Vivek continued with his own words after this....."I'm not at all worried about bododa's free time because if he's anything like the rest of us mahapatras, he'll find some way to fill up his time with some cause or another. sitting around idly doesnt work well for us - I look forward to seeing what else he gets involved in as I'm sure he'll be setting examples for years to come!my best wishes, love, and pranams from the bangkok-mahapatras"

It was a touching scene. Few friends got up too to share their own memories and good wishes. The party seemed to be winding down when the biggest surprise of the evening showed up. Dr. Parimal Nandy and his wife Julie stealthily inched their way forward through the crowd. Parimal lives in Ohio and is Sachi's med. school classmate. Sachi took a moment before he ran up and literally lifted his friend off the ground. They had not met for 30 long years. Their meeting injected life into the party again. He shared a few early escapades of their lives before Sachi quickly shut him up. We enjoyed their back and forth banter while eating the birthday cake and then reluctantly said goodbye to all. Vivek left early next morning, promising to come back with Naren for Thanksgiving. Nandy and Julie left a day later. We promised them a visit soon.

Jyoti in the meantime has been doing the rounds with some more baby showers. This one was given by our friends in Omaha. It was hosted by Carmini and Asha Singh.

Carmini's home was all decorated and loaded with food making it a very festive occasion.

She specially outdid herself in assembling this amazing dessert table. Asha and Carmini are dear friends that we love very much.

Norma was there too. She and Jim are such an integral part of our family now that we cannot imagine celebrating special times without them.

These are neighbors and friends of Jyoti's from work. We had invited them too. It was nice to see what a close group they form.

The baby shower was for women only but the men showed up at the end to crash the party and made it even more fun.

This is Heather with her kids. She tutors Suraj and is also a good friend. Her father had cancer just like Sachi when she was in highschool. He is doing well now. Heather was one of my support system during some tough days. Her kids are dressed in their Halloween costume and are at our house to collect the traditional candy. This holiday used to be big in our house when Jyoti, Suraj and Ravi were little. I remember Jyoti as a three-headed monster one year. Suraj and Ravi's favourite costume used to be Ninjas. One time we had a big party and Sachi dressed up as Dracula. I was his Indian bride. It was through these festivals that we slowly became part of America.

Halloween (October 31st.) is always followed by Suraj's birthday. He has decided he is too old to have a traditional party so we kept it a family affair.

This cake is from Jyoti. As you can tell, Suraj loved it.

We posed with him and then went for dinner.

The real celebration of course was at Jyoti's home. We were invited to watch the husker football game on their new 'Big Screen'. Jeff's family was there too. Suraj spent most of the time on the floor with the dog. He was disgusted with the game because Huskers played bad and lost big time.

Afterwards everyone gathered in the family room, to listen to the husker coach analyse the game. Football is Nebraska's state religion.

Fortunately there are some sane people living here too. Norma spent the time taking care of granddaughters Isabel and Finley (The mom was working). Jyoti took the opportunity to pick up a few tips from an experienced mother.

It is middle of November now and we are living from day to day, waiting for Jyoti and Jeff's baby to arrive. Our enthusiasm is a little daunting to Jyoti. She tells me that she has given my picture to the nurses at the hospital and alerted them that I might try to steal her baby. She will soon change her tune when she is sleep deprived.

I have not written in the blog for so long. I am glad I finally took the time to jot down the happenings of the last few weeks with you. One day out of habit I opened the blog, not really expecting any new messages, and was delighted to find Babi's entry. Some years back we had attended the same show that Babi so poetically described. Thank You for taking us to that concert once again.

Talk to you soon.

Yours Ambi.